BlackRock’s $40 Billion Bet on a Lesser-Known Data Center Firm

(This story was originally published on Oct. 3, 2025. On Oct. 15, investors led by BlackRock Inc.’s Global Infrastructure Partners agreed to buy Aligned Data Centers in a deal that values the company at $40 billion.)

At the start of the year, a lesser-known infrastructure company called Aligned Data Centers managed to pull off a $12 billion fundraise — more than some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence startups have been able to secure in a single round. The goal: dramatically expanding its footprint to support surging demand for the facilities that power AI systems.